Digital Lifescapes

According to Heidrick & Struggles, the legacy high-priced executive search firm, the primary focus for mainstream C-level executives in 2009 is acquiring new customers, increasing retention and improving their lifetime value -- in that order. Eighty-eight percent of the executives surveyed said acquiring new customers was important, and 87 percent said the same about customer retention. Least important on their list of priorities were improving marketing's impact on shareholder value, retaining talent and expanding to new geographies. Apparently eMarketer believes that this makes sense in current economic conditions -- if a business is struggling, further development gets pushed to the back burner. Talent is easy to come by when unemployment is high, and if sales increase, shareholder value will naturally follow. However, they wonder if the lingering question is, how to increase sales in this environment? Please, hold the laughter. This is serious stuff. Most significant to sen...

Having just read Paul Gillin's latest book entitled " Secrets of Social Media Marketing " I'm reflecting on the future of the marketing profession, relative to my own past and recent experiences. In praise of the book's contents, Larry Weber says "Paul Gillin has written a master map for enterprises to succeed in the era of customer conversation and customer control." In contrast I believe, and with all due respect to Mr. Weber, while it's apparent that much of what is applied as the fundamental principles of marketing doesn't work today -- and is proven to be ineffectual, in so many ways -- the path to success is currently unclear for many marketers. Granted, that assessment must be very unsettling to anyone approving the marketing budget for their organization. No matter, it would be foolish to deny the results of the body of knowledge and associated case studies that Paul Gillin compiled to outline the themes in his book. Embracing c...